In a brief statement, the Chandlers thanked everyone for their concern and interest but asked for privacy.

"We have just learned that Paul's father died in late July, and we obviously need to come to terms with that," the Chandlers said. "We will return to the UK very soon.

"We do not intend to give any press interviews or make any further statements until we have had time to adjust to the situation and we would appreciate it if you would give us and our families some space, and respect our privacy for the moment."

The couple spent their first night of freedom at the British high commission in Nairobi, Kenya. But the euphoria of their release has been tempered by news about Paul Chandler's father.

The couple were handed over to local officials in the Somali town of Adado after a ransom of up to £620,000 was reportedly paid to their kidnappers. They were flown to the capital, Mogadishu, and on to Nairobi.

In a statement, the Chandler family said: "Throughout the protracted discussions with the pirates it has been a difficult task for the family to get across the message that these were two retired people on a sailing trip on a small private yacht and not part of a major commercial enterprise involving tens of millions of pounds of assets."

But they refused to comment on how the couple's freedom was secured, saying only that common sense had "finally prevailed".

"There will be the inevitable questions of how their release was achieved," they said.

Reports suggested the ransom money came from a mixture of private investors and the Somali government.

The British government maintains a policy of making no substantive concessions to hostage-takers.

The family said: "It would be irresponsible to discuss any aspect of the release process as this could encourage others to capture private individuals and demand large ransom payments, something that we are sure none of us wants."

The 56-year-old, who splits his time between his native Somalia and his wife and children in Leytonstone, east London, led a party of local elders and armed men from the small town of Adado to the Chandlers' undisclosed release point.

After securing their freedom, he escorted the couple to Nairobi.

Kadiye said he had been motivated to act because his children were ashamed of seeing footage of the couple on TV in Britain, adding: "I am excited about standing next to the Chandlers on TV. This will make my sons very happy."

The pair, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, revealed they had been beaten by their captors after they refused to be separated.

They were seen waving and holding hands as they finally left Somalia for Kenya.

"We were told on Friday [of our release] and in a way which gave us some confidence to believe it," Paul Chandler, 61, told BBC News. "We'd been told we were going to be released in 10 days almost every 10 days for nine months."

Describing his emotions, he said: "It was hard to have any feelings really – almost disbelief. It was too good to be true."